POTW | City of Hudson

The 1886 log jam in the Dalles of the St. Croix River (Courtesy of MN Historical Society)

Even though it’s in Wisconsin, Hudson is a beautiful year-round destination for Twin Citizens. With a present-day population of about 13,000 people, the area first developed around 1840 along with the sawmills that dotted the St. Croix Valley.

As the chart above indicates, Hudson accounts for about 40.0 percent of sales activity in St. Croix County. Sales in Hudson have surpassed their previous record and surged to all-time highs, while sales in St. Croix County have just barely matched 2005 sales levels.

Home prices in Hudson and its surrounding county have both recovered nicely from the Great Recession. Over the last 12 months, Hudson homes have tended to sell at a median price of $260,000, while homes in the surrounding county tend to fetch a slightly lower median prices of $219,000. Note that some of the market weakness in 2014 was more pronounced in the city than in the county.

When it comes to home prices in a city, even a small city, there are often significant differences by market segment. Hudson is no exception. Even though the median home prices is $260,000, half of the “riverfront” and “private waterfront” listings sell for over $790,000 and $800,000, respectively.

And finally, based on sales broken down by square footage range, the bulk of activity occurred in the 2,501 square feet and larger segment, though the greatest increase was in the 1,501 to 2,000 square feet range.